IN A bold decision, Pakistan has decided and announced that it will not provide any bases on its soil to the US to operate from, after its troops exit Afghanistan.

 

The decision came after the briefing of the National Security Committee, which was attended by senior members of the Parliament from both the Government and Opposition, along with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), and the Directors General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Military Intelligence (MI).

 

The meeting continued for at least eight hours, where the committee members were given a detailed briefing on the security situation of the country and the region at large, the situation with India and the Kashmir issue, and Pakistan’s role in the Afghan peace process, especially on the US demand to Pakistan for providing bases to operate after its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

 

During the all-important meeting, the members were informed that US seemed to be deliberately leaving a “mismanaged and unstable” Afghanistan as it wanted to undermine China, Pakistan and the region. However, Pakistan has decided that it is ready to face any consequences of its decision to not provide any bases to the US. “Pakistan is not going to give military bases to the US; we are not going to fight their proxy war. Nearly 70,000 people were martyred since the US did it the first time,” said a member of the Parliament.